For new Angels coach Keith Johnson, surprise call-up was a major role reversal

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On Sunday, the Angels made a surprising switch by adding Salt Lake Bees manager Keith Johnson to their major-league staff. With the exception of 2015, Johnson had been the manager at Triple-A Salt Lake every season since 2011.
(Photo courtesy of Salt Lake Bees)

ANAHEIM — Keith Johnson looked at his phone. Billy Eppler was calling. Johnson, the manager of the Angels’ top farm team in Salt Lake, knew that could only mean one thing: someone was getting called up to the majors.

Johnson wasn’t wrong.

“Little did I know it was going to be me this time,” he said. “It’s a moment I’ll never forget.”

On Sunday, the Angels made a surprising switch by adding Johnson to their major-league staff and replacing him with Eric Chavez, an assistant to Eppler. It was the first long-term managerial assignment for Chavez.

For Johnson, it was his second assignment to the Angels’ major league staff. He became the team’s player information coach in the wake of Jerry Dipoto’s resignation midway through the 2015 season. Johnson began that year as a roving infield instructor.

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With the exception of 2015, Johnson had been the manager at Triple-A Salt Lake every season since 2011. Johnson knew his last major league assignment was temporary.

“This time has a pretty good feel to it,” he said. “Half my team’s up here. A lot of guys, it’s their first major league call-up, where in the past we had a club full of minor league free agents, up and down and whatnot. Definitely has a different feeling to it.”

The elephant in the room, of course, is what the switcheroo means for Chavez and Johnson beyond this season. Angels manager Mike Scioscia has spent part of the last three days downplaying reports that he plans to retire once his contract expires at the end of this season.

Chavez has been rumored as a potential successor, along with special assistant Brad Ausmus and bench coach Josh Paul. Perhaps now the Angels can also take a closer look at Johnson, 47, the epitome of an “organizational soldier” since his first coaching assignment in 2004.

That year, Johnson was the hitting coach of the Angels’ affiliate in the rookie-level Arizona League. The team featured a 17-year-old Martin Maldonado at catcher and future Angels reliever Jose Arredondo at shortstop. A 20-year-old Howie Kendrick passed through. Led by Casey Kotchman, Jeff Mathis and Ervin Santana, the Angels’ system was ranked third overall by Baseball America at the time.

After moving up twice as a minor league hitting coach, Johnson took his first managerial assignment in 2008 with Class-A Cedar Rapids. He has witnessed an entire franchise’s talent pool rise, shrink, then rise again since his last season as a player in Salt Lake in 2003.

“Down there it’s not necessarily about wins and losses,” Johnson said, “but when guys come up here and you see them, all the work that you put in to see them flourish and show up here, it’s just a great feeling.”

While minor-league managing is no longer the prerequisite it once was, Johnson’s ease working with young players and his reputation as a player-friendly mentor fit the mold of a modern field general.

When rookie catcher Jose Briceño snuffed out a double-steal attempt by the Seattle Mariners in July, Scioscia was quick to credit Johnson and his staff for reinforcing those details long before Briceño arrived in the big leagues.

“When you’re the manager in Triple-A, a hitting coach or pitching coach, you’re an extension of the major league staff,” Scioscia said.

For Johnson, that feels more real than ever.

JEREZ UP, TROPEANO LANDS ON DL

Left-handed reliever Williams Jerez got his first major league call-up, and right-hander Nick Tropeano was placed on the 10-day disabled list with right shoulder inflammation.

For Tropeano, it’s his second trip to the DL for the injury this season. He allowed one run over five innings Monday before leaving the game, having thrown just 62 pitches.

Jerez was acquired from the Boston Red Sox on July 30 along with right-hander Ty Buttrey in the Ian Kinsler trade. In 36 Triple-A games this year (34 with Pawtucket and two with Salt Lake) he was 2-1 with six saves, a 4.62 ERA and 72 strikeouts in 54-2/3 innings.

Jerez will become the 30th different pitcher the Angels have used in 2018. The club record is 31, set in 2014 and 2017.

OHTANI UPDATE

Shohei Ohtani will begin throwing off a mound on Saturday, Scioscia said.

The decision was announced one day after the Angels’ pitcher/designated hitter made his first dry throws off a mound since receiving a stem cell and platelet-rich plasma injection in June. Ohtani continues making progress in his long-toss program as well.

Though Ohtani will throw to a catcher in a crouch, Scioscia said his bullpen session “will not be full gorilla.”

ALSO

Pitcher Matt Shoemaker will throw another bullpen on Wednesday, his second this week. The right-hander has been on the disabled list since April. … In his first minor league rehab game with Class-A Inland Empire, Rene Rivera served as the 66ers’ designated hitter and singled in his first at-bat. He also grounded into a couple outs and struck out. Scioscia said that Rivera’s rehab stint is expected to last seven or eight days. … Four Angels were included on Baseball America’s midseason Top 100 prospects list: Double-A outfielder Jo Adell (11), Triple-A pitcher Griffin Canning (48), Class-A outfielder Brandon Marsh (89) and Triple-A pitcher Jose Suarez (90).